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Chapter 1 | The Rise and Fall of Castle Vale, 1964 - 1993 The Rise and Fall of Castle Vale, 1964 - 1993 | Chapter 1 The fall than one resident remembers that people would shuffle their feet and really in trouble.” After that, loan sharks were the only option Another young mother in the early 1990s, who lived in a first floor “The problems began when people were moved here who didn’t want mumble ‘Erdington’ or ‘Minworth’ when asked where they came from. available to people in need of financial support. flat of a maisonette block, recalls: “The flat was above the rubbish to be here,” says Carole Rafferty, long-term community shute. There were so many fires in the shute, some set off representative and chair of the Tenants and Residents Alliance (see Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Labour peer and loyal supporter of the Every Thursday morning money lenders would congregate outside deliberately, others caused by garden waste. The fire services took chapter 2) 3 . Housing Action Trust, first witnessed the depths to which Castle Vale the Post Office armed with their clients’ books. They would take their ages to respond, if they responded at all. I remember once, eight had sunk in 1983. “I was Member of Parliament for Erdington at the share of the money, and return the following week. The bleak wind- months pregnant with my second child, standing in the smoke-filled The large-scale relocation of communities may have been traumatic, time, and went to the estate to canvass as part of that miserable blown shopping centre was a suitably dismal setting for the ritual. hallway with a fire extinguisher trying to put out a fire.” Farnborough Road 14 tower blocks, 1994. but residents of Castle Vale were at least united by shared experience. Reluctant newcomers began to corrode those bonds. election campaign. I was absolutely appalled by what I saw, an estate of tower blocks like giant battery cages. It was a civic pigsty. As the years went by the quality of life continued to deteriorate. Animals were another feature of life in Castle Vale. “We knew they View of Castle Vale in the 1960’s showing Chivenor House/School in the distance. It was clear that Birmingham City Council didn’t have the funds to Tenants no longer expected the council to respond to their were a problem, particularly in the tower blocks,” says Richard “By the late 1970s it became evident that drug dealers were working make the necessary improvements.” complaints. “I lived at Cranwell [one of the ‘Centre 8’ tower blocks]. Temple Cox, chairman of the Housing Action Trust. “So we advertised on the estate. And violent incidents began to accumulate, there had I don’t think it received any investment for 18 years. The lift kept for unwanted pets, and worked with schools to use them as an never previously been a problem with violence,” says Rafferty. Another resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, remembers breaking down. But things really began to go down hill when the educational tool. The first donation was a donkey, which had been that car theft was a big problem: “At least twice I walked out of the police station in the ground floor was closed down,” says Sue Spicer. living on the balcony of a ninth floor flat.” Pat Smith recalls the demise of the ‘rent man’. “It must have been front door to watch my car being driven away.” the mid-to-late 1970s when the rent man stopped going from door Winters on Castle Vale were particularly grim. “Because the Unsurprisingly, the quality of life had a terrible impact on the health of to door. There had been one mugging too many.” From then on rent Teenagers growing up on the estate would spend evenings at the top maisonette blocks were so badly built they were almost impossible the local population. A Health Needs Assessment published in 1992 was collected by post or at the neighbourhood office. Another thread of Concorde Tower, the tallest high-rise on the estate, watching the to heat. We had quarterly electricity bills of between £300-500, and revealed that life expectancy was only 68.3 years (the national average of community cohesion had snapped. cars racing below. The long straight roads were popular with joy riders. still the flat was freezing, with ice on the inside of the windows,” was closer to 76 5 ), and the estate had among the highest rates of infant recalls Wendy Walsh, who was bringing up two young children in the mortality in the West Midlands. “From the mid-1970s there were The seeds of discontent blossomed throughout the 1980s. The Paul Hill, an artist, who has lived in Castle Vale since the early early 1990s 4 . “It seems amazing to think of it now, but we spent growing numbers of children with upper respiratory problems, particularly banks, solicitors and weekly markets all disappeared. The schools 1970s, recalls the departure of the last bank as the time the rot set entire winters in the living room, to keep warm. I used to bath the those living in the flat-roofed maisonette blocks,” recalls Pat Smith. The were failing. People were increasingly ashamed of the estate. More in. “I think it must have been around 1987. Then the estate was children in a paddling pool.” report also showed that 1,517 heavy drinkers and over 650 substance 6 3 In 2000 Carole Rafferty was awarded an MBE for services to the regeneration of Castle Vale. 4 In 2004 Wendy Walsh was appointed chair of Castle Vale Community Housing Association (see chapters 3 and 9). 5 In 1991 the expectation of life at birth across the United Kingdom was: 73.2 years (male), and 78.7 years (female). Source: Office of National Statistics. 7
Chapter 1 | The Rise and Fall of Castle Vale, 1964 - 1993 The Rise and Fall of Castle Vale, 1964 - 1993 | Chapter 1 abusers lived in Castle Vale 6 . Unemployment was another problem. In 1993 it was running at 26%, with limited potential for improvement. By knew were the people on your own floor. I hated it,” says Beatrice Lunn (see introduction). then Castle Vale was notorious throughout the West Midlands. Job applications marked with a B35 postcode went to the bottom of the pile. Jez Lilley moved to Castle Vale after leaving the army in 1986. “I lived like a hermit for the first two years. The army cares about you. Standards of educational attainment were poor. There are four junior Here nobody talked to me. I was terrified to be honest.” schools and one secondary school in Castle Vale. All had unsustainably small student populations. “Some of the parents treated us as a free child-minding service,” says Steve Holloway, head teacher of Chivenor Junior School. “Aspirations were very low.” The estate’s reputation also made it difficult to attract teachers. “I remember interviewing for Birmingham Education Authority and For years Birmingham City Council had been aware of the gravity of Castle Vale’s problems. Final confirmation came in 1991 when a chunk of concrete fell from one of the tower blocks. There was nobody underneath, but Castle Vale was falling apart. The revival View of Farnborough Road tower blocks from southern perimeter, c1994. asking Non-Qualified Teachers where they’d like to work. Invariably In July 1991 Derek Waddington, then director of housing at View of Concorde tower and the Sopwith Croft area in about 1993. the answer was, ‘anywhere but Castle Vale’. And there was the time Birmingham City Council, heard about the Housing Action Trust in we had an Ofsted. I took the advisor to the shopping centre to get North Hull. He wondered whether a similar approach could work in some lunch. He was genuinely scared,” says Holloway. Castle Vale. After a fact-finding visit to Hull, Waddington recommended the model to Dick Knowles, then leader of the council. Newcomers to Castle Vale couldn’t fail to pick up on the The prospect of a large Labour-controlled local council cutting a deal atmosphere. “When I arrived in 1991 they gave me a flat on the with a Conservative government known for its antipathy to local 14th floor of Concorde Tower. There was no front door, no back door. authorities seemed unlikely. But Waddington persevered. The wind whistled right through. There was no community spirit Typical 1960s built walk-up block of flats. Castle Vale shopping centre precinct, c1994. whatsoever. You just kept your mouth shut. The only people you He was assisted by Stan Austin, a local resident and chair of housing 6 8 At the time the estate had a population of around 10,000. 9
Page 1 and 2: No Longer Notorious The Revival of
Page 3 and 4: Preface | No Longer Notorious No Lo
Page 5: Chapter 1 | The Rise and Fall of Ca
Page 9 and 10: Chapter 1 | The Rise and Fall of Ca
Page 11 and 12: Chapter 2 | Setting Up the Housing
Page 17 and 18: Chapter 3 | Housing Housing | Chapt
Page 23 and 24: Chapter 4 | Development Development
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 5 | Health Health | Chapter
Page 35 and 36: Chapter 6 | Crime Crime | Chapter 6
Page 37 and 38: Chapter 6 | Crime Crime | Chapter 6
Page 39 and 40: Chapter 7 | Employment and Educatio
Page 45 and 46: Chapter 8 | Art, Environment and Im
Page 51 and 52: Chapter 9 | Succession Succession |
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 9 | Succession Succession |
Page 55 and 56: Chapter 10 | Transferable Lessons T
Page 57 and 58:
Chapter 10 | Transferable Lessons T
Page 59 and 60:
Chapter 10 | Transferable Lessons N
Page 61 and 62:
Biographies | No Longer Notorious N
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